Mark of Love

By Linda Kage

Due to a dark curse, the entire Graykey family has been marked for death. But Quilla Graykey has grown used to living on the run, constantly hiding and surviving under the radar of High Cliff soldiers, who’ve been sent out to hunt her down and destroy her.

So when a man bearing the mark of a High Clifter shows up on her trail, persistently tracking her, it’s really nothing new. Except she can’t seem to shake this guy. He keeps finding her, no matter how well she disguises herself. If she’s not careful, she might actually have to take a stand and fight him. Maybe even kill him.

But the handsome pursuer turns her world upside down when she discovers he’s not out to assassinate her after all, nor does he have a clue she’s a Graykey. His intentions are worse. He claims she’s his one true love, and curses, duty, or honor be damned; he’s not about to lose her. He wants to make her his happily ever after.

Used to eluding people and wanting to keep it that way, Quilla honestly has no idea how to avoid the likes of Indigo Moast.

Could this be the one evasion she can’t dodge?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Kage
• Release date: Oct 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005127312

Linda Kage

The youngest of eight children, Linda Kage grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest. She now lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and nine cuckoo clocks. Linda is a member of Romance Writers of America and its local chapter, Midwest Romance Writers.

Book preview

Prologue

Quilla

THE TENTH REAPING

Iclapped my hands over my ears as another scream echoed down the hall, this one louder and closer than the last. It sounded like Mama. 

When the cry stopped abruptly, I gave a thick swallow, tucked my knees up to my chest, then squeezed my eyes shut, rocking myself slowly back and forth. 

I guess Mama was gone now. Just like Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy, my brother Quatro, and a handful of cousins.

I had just seen them all die.

I’d never witnessed murder before.

And I didn’t want to ever again.

Huddled in the dirt behind the main staircase, I swiped the back of my hand across my upper lip when the slow trickle of something wet slid from my nose. My hand came away red and sticky.

Blood.

Bleeding made sense. A hailstorm of debris had hit me when Grandpa’s brother’s family had invaded the great dining hall by blowing out one of the sidewalls I’d been sitting near.

My palm trembled as I prodded my hair, checking for more wounds, and rubble dust fell from the ratted strands, landing on the frayed and grimy hem of my dress. As if they were lethal, I kicked the chunks of wall away with a bare, scraped toe before I tucked my leg back under my skirt and returned myself to the fetal position, hugging my knees and rocking again.

Distant bellows and shrieks began to fade further away. I hummed to myself—just inside my mind though, so no one else could hear it—to block out the rest of the world.

But that didn’t help. Jolting when a shout sounded from nearby, I sucked in an involuntary gasp. Boots pounded closer. I tensed, fearing I’d been discovered. But the clanging of metal and swords slamming together told me the runner had been fleeing from someone else, and they weren’t coming for me.

I had no idea who was fighting this time. Honestly, it no longer mattered. As soon as my grandfather’s brother Orick and his family had invaded, everyone had turned on everyone else. It was impossible to know who to trust anymore. To know who was good.

One minute, Grandpa Obediah had been raising his goblet with a toast and smiling to celebrate Grandma’s birthday, then a loud boom made my ears ring. Dust clogged my vision, and the next thing I knew, Grandpa’s head had landed on the floor, no longer connected to his body.

Utter madness followed. Brother turned against sister, husband against wife, mother against son.

I’d been so stunned watching my cousins Queen and Quote stabbing each other to death, I hadn’t even noticed my own brother Quatro charging toward me with a raised dagger until Mama screamed a warning. I’d turned just in time to see her thrust a sword into the center of his back to stop him.

Frozen, I gaped as the blade emerged through the front of his chest and blood bloomed across the cloth of his tunic. My mother had murdered one of my brothers. To save me.

I would’ve remained stupefied even longer, trying to process what was happening, but Mama had roared, Run, Quilla, run! just as Daddy rushed at her from behind, spear raised, only for Uncle Palmer to slay him with a battle-ax before he could reach her.

A whimper filled my throat. My entire family had gone insane. It could only mean one thing.

Another reaping had begun. 

Grandpa had taught us all about the reapings. He’d survived one already, back when he was twenty-nine, he claimed, before he’d met Grandma or the rest of us were born. Before even Daddy was born.

With the curse that had plagued our family for centuries, the bloodlust for power and magic would sometimes seize a member of House Graykey until they could no longer control the insatiable thirst for more, and they attacked the rest of the family, intent to consume their abilities and take them for themselves.

From the moment that first strike in a reaping came, a struggle for dominance and control took hold of the rest of us until only the strongest survived. Just a rare few Graykey members were able to avoid that unquenchable hunger for more power whenever a reaping began. Grandpa Obediah claimed to be immune. He was still a carrier, though, so he had passed the curse down through the generations to the rest of us.

I slowly twisted my wrist until I exposed the smooth, hairless inside of my forearm where a light blue vein ran through the center of the tattoo I bore. I’d been born with the pentagram with the letter G in the center, a mark that signified I came from the Graykey line, and therefore I carried the Graykey curse.

Meaning I should be filled with bloodlust right now, too, murdering the rest of my family like everyone else.

But I didn’t feel like killing anyone. Especially anyone in my own family, who had raised me and protected me and nurtured me my entire life. The idea actually turned my stomach sour.

Did this mean I was immune to the bloodlust too? Just like Grandpa Obediah had been in the last reaping?

I hoped so. I didn’t want to become feral.

"Why won’t you just die already?" a man roared over the sound of clanging metal.

I knew his voice. Daddy’s middle brother, Uncle Palmer, had always kind of scared me.

After seeing the way he’d cut down my father only minutes ago, that fear wasn’t going to fade anytime soon either.

You first, a woman answered, straining and panting from the effort she must be putting into fighting him off.

I sucked in a breath, also recognizing her voice. Uncle Palmer’s wife, Taiki, was my favorite aunt. She always took the time to pause whatever she was doing to teach me something new and interesting. And she smiled and laughed when she did it, as if she truly enjoyed my company. Usually, I just annoyed everyone with my relentless questions and curiosity. But Aunt Taiki called me refreshing.

I bolted upright when she cried out after a particularly loud thump.

If Aunt Taiki died, who would be left?

Only the frightening murderers, that’s who. Certainly no one who’d walk down to the stream with me and try to spot minnows and crawlers in the water. Certainly no one who’d snuggle close to me in front of a warm fire when it was storming outside and tell me funny stories to keep me from being scared. Certainly no one who enjoyed my questions and called me refreshing or could make an entire room seem as if the sun had just come out from behind a cloud whenever they smiled.

Aunt Taiki couldn’t die, too. She just couldn’t.

Since she had married into the family and wasn’t a blood-born Graykey, I knew she wasn’t held under the thrall of bloodlust. Like Mama, she was probably only fighting right now to either defend herself or someone else.

My entire body began to shake. I knew she needed help. But I was so scared. I couldn’t seem to make myself move. If I left my hiding spot, I’d surely die. But if I lost Aunt Taiki on top of Mama, and Daddy, and Grandma, and Grandpa, and Quatro, how could I live, anyway?

Realizing I physically could not handle losing anyone else today, I found the will to move and shoved my way to my feet before darting out from under the stone stairwell.

Uncle Palmer had Aunt Taiki backed into a wall. Her sword lay nearly ten feet away, and blood seeped from a wound on the side of her face as she slipped down to sit on the ground and was barely able to lift one limp arm to defend herself. She looked defeated. Done.

With a sneer of triumph, Uncle Palmer lifted his own sword and reared it back to deliver her death blow. I’ve wanted to do this from the moment I met you, he announced.

No! I screamed.

Lifting both hands, I spread my fingers wide and—palms aimed in his direction—I pushed the air at him, compelling it to blow until it rushed right into him and shoved him off his feet and away from his wife.

Surrendering to my gift of persuasion, the air made a mighty, roaring wall, flowing up and separating him from Aunt Taiki so he couldn’t reach her again after he regained his footing, no matter how much he hollered and fought against it, trying to break through.

In return, Aunt Taiki scrambled from the floor and snatched up her fallen sword with both hands. Screaming a warrior’s cry, she summoned all the strength she could muster and swung the weapon, spinning her body in a full circle before she let go of her hold and threw the blade forward.

The sword sailed through my wall of air and caught Uncle Palmer right in the chest. He choked out his surprise and clutched the metal before tipping over backward, plummeting to the ground, dead.

Aunt Taiki! Letting go of my hold on the air, I rushed to her, needing someone to hold me and take care of me before I fell to pieces.

"Quilla. Opening her arms, she slumped to her knees and pulled me close, hugging my face to her and nuzzling. You’re still alive. And unaffected. Glory be."

I—I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I sobbed, gripping the back of her dress and holding on for dear life. I didn’t mean to kill him.

Voice trembling, I pulled my face away from her to glance toward Uncle Palmer’s body. He gaped up at the ceiling of the corridor with his mouth hanging open wide and eyes fixed and glassy with the death stare.

My stomach revolted.

What? Oh! No, my dear sweet child. Aunt Taiki smoothed her hand over my hair in a reassuring manner. "You didn’t kill him, baby. I did."

A shudder worked through me. But I-I helped, I argued, feeling wheezy. I held him back so you could—

"Did you know what I was going to do when you pushed him away from me?"

I blinked. Well, n-no.

I never would’ve guessed she’d do that.

She clasped my face between her hands and looked intently into my eyes. "Then you had no part in his death. Now, come. Grasping my hand hard, she pushed to her feet, already searching the hall for the best escape route. We need to get out of here and find—"

Taiki!

Aunt Taiki spun toward the call, and a sob rose from her throat. Lain, she breathed, her eyes filling with tears. Thank God.

Letting go of my hand, she dashed toward the other woman with the long, flaming red hair who was racing toward her, and they met in the middle, hugging and sobbing and then kissing, gripping each other’s cheeks as their lips clung with a panicked but also relieved kind of urgency.

I blinked, dumbfounded, as Aunt Taiki continued to kiss Aunt Melaina. On the mouth. Passionately. When Aunt Melaina pulled away, she swiped her thumb over the cut on Aunt Taiki’s cheek to find that it had been healed.

My mouth fell open in shock, realizing they were soulmates.

I had never known that. I’d just known that both my father’s brothers had not married their wives for love. They bragged about it all the time, in fact. Uncle Palmer and Uncle Pallo had picked women of strong magic who would breed mighty future generations of Graykeys, and then they’d kidnapped them and bound them to our house so they could never leave the family under their own free will.

Uncle Palmer had put a spell on Aunt Taiki that would kill her if she ever tried to abandon him, and Uncle Pallo had done the same, plus used dark, forbidden magic to suppress good emotions like compassion, empathy, and kindness from Aunt Melaina’s soul until she just couldn’t be nice. It caused her great pain when she did manage to feel something sweet and kind.

Which was probably why tears of blood poured down her face when she pulled away from Aunt Taiki. I thought I’d lost you. I thought—

Shh, Aunt Taiki assured with a gentle smile as she wiped the blood from Aunt Melaina’s eyes with her thumbs. I’m right here. I’m fine. Now, stop this, my love, before you hurt yourself.

Yeah, Mom, came another urgent voice. "Cut it out. We don’t have time, anyway. Let’s get out of here already. Everyone’s gone flipping crazy."

Glancing past Aunt Melaina, I realized more had arrived with her. Two of her children—Quailen and Questa—stepped from behind her and tugged on her arm. Someone could catch us out here any second; we have to go.

I backed nervously away, eyeing my cousins the entire time. They didn’t look as if they’d been gripped by the urge to kill, but I wasn’t willing to take any chances. It was rare for one person in a family to escape the bloodlust, so it didn’t seem possible for three of us to have avoided it.

Since they were both older than me—already teenagers—they could probably kill me easily, too. If they were infected. But when they glanced my way, they looked just as cautious and uncertain and afraid as I felt about them.

Quilla, Aunt Taiki called, turning to me suddenly and waving me forward. Come.

Quilla? Aunt Melaina repeated in confusion before she spotted me scurrying toward them. Immediately, her eyes narrowed. No! Grabbing Aunt Taiki, she yanked her protectively away. Then she lifted her hands toward me, prepared to dispel magic. And probably not the good kind that could make my hair pretty and eyes extra shiny, either.

I squeaked and skidded to a stop. Uncle Palmer might’ve always scared me, but Aunt Melaina downright terrified me.

Get back! the red-haired woman ordered.

No. Stop! Aunt Taiki leaped forward, dodging in front of me as she grasped Aunt Melaina’s arm and pushed it down. She’s harmless. Just look. The girl’s immune.

Aunt Melaina shrugged her off, sniffing. Impossible. Her disgusted gaze focused on me yet again as she pushed red curls out of her face. Two of mine are already immune.

Then there are three, Aunt Taiki reasoned desperately. Because I’m telling you, Quilla is innocent. She tugged the other woman back another foot. Melaina, please. She’s just a child.

"She’s a Graykey, Aunt Melaina snarled, her accusation slicing into me until I wanted to drop my face in shame. And her abilities are insanely powerful. You’ve said so yourself. She’s probably stronger than anyone else in this whole godforsaken realm, which makes her more dangerous than the rest of them."

She just saved my life, Aunt Taiki insisted, causing Melaina to pause and finally turn her critical glare from me so she could glance at the other woman, one eyebrow lifted.

Did she?

Yes. She did. Aunt Taiki plopped a hand against her hip. "And besides, I think I can determine who’s immune and who’s not. I just watched two of my own children tear each other apart, for God’s sake. And I’m telling you, Quilla is not like them."

Aunt Melaina shuddered and seemed to relent, only to pierce me with a deep scowl. "Well then, so what? What exactly do you expect us to do with her?"

Relaxing, Aunt Taiki held her hand out to me. "I expect us to bring her along."

Impossible, Aunt Melaina scoffed. She can’t come with us.

She is, Aunt Taiki countered and grasped my fingers. Now come on. And she took off jogging down the hall toward the back exit of the manor, towing me along with her.

Aunt Melaina dogged our heels. The hell if she’s going anywhere with me! I don’t trust the brat. There’s no room for her, anyway. We only have four amulets on us to complete the ritual. That leaves her shit out of luck.

Behind us, something crashed to the floor and shattered.

Both Aunt Melaina and Aunt Taiki slowed to a stop before glancing around to where Questa had tripped and fallen to her knees. A broken amber crystal lay scattered in pieces on the ground in front of her. With her face paling and eyes widening, she looked up and winced. Oops.

"Make that three amulets, Aunt Melaina ground out from between clenched teeth before wailing, Fuck it all, Questa. That was your ticket to freedom."

I-I… The teen’s face crumpled as she sobbed out a quick hiccup. "I’m sorry. It slipped."

Of course it did. Cursing under her breath, Aunt Melaina stormed back to her daughter and jerked hold of her hand, yanking her back to her feet and starting forward again. She stalked past us with Quailen hurrying after them. "Now keep this one around your fucking throat or I’ll wring your neck with it until you stop breathing, got it?" she instructed as she tugged another amulet on another chain up and over her own head before she irritably thrust it at her daughter.

Got it. Questa rushed to gratefully slip the new necklace into place.

Tightening her fingers around my hand, Aunt Taiki hurried after them as Aunt Melaina led the way outside.

A scattering of servants took off running when they saw us, but otherwise, no one else was about.

It’s settled, then, Aunt Taiki announced, sounding logical. We can all still go through the portal. So, we’ll give an amulet to the three children, and you and I will just have to come back through when the bridge closes.

Aunt Melaina bubbled out an incredulous laugh. "Oh, I know you did not just suggest I leave my two teenage children alone in an alternate universe without any kind of adult supervision. Nice, Taiki. Real nice."

Fine, then, Aunt Taiki bit out. You stay there with Questa and Quailen. Quilla and I will come back at the end of the transference.

Aunt Melaina didn’t answer for a minute. We reached the stables, and she shoved her children inside before spinning to grab hold of the front of Aunt Taiki’s cloak. Teeth gritted, she snarled, "You and I have been planning this escape for sixteen fucking years, and now you’re trying to tell me we’re not going to end up together? No. Fuck, no. I don’t accept that."

Tears glistened on Aunt Taiki’s cheeks as she tenderly cupped Aunt Melaina’s face in her hands. I don’t know what else to do.

More blood appeared at the corner of Aunt Melaina’s eyes. "Easy. You give us a happily ever after where we end up fucking together."

Aunt Taiki sputtered out a tortured laugh and pressed her brow to Aunt Melaina’s. God, I’m going to miss your awful sense of humor.

I wasn’t joking. Aunt Melaina squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. I can’t do this without you. I just can’t. There has to be another way.

I’ll still be with you, Aunt Taiki assured, her voice quieting to a whisper. Right up to the very end when Quilla and I are pulled back to the Outer Realms, I’ll be right by your side.

Aunt Melaina sniffed and wiped blood from her cheeks. Promise?

Always and always. Now, go. We need to hurry. She urged Aunt Melaina to enter the stable ahead of her, then she turned back to check on me.

Remembering my presence, Aunt Melaina hissed and narrowed her eyes my way as we hurried past stalls full of horses. "I don’t see why she has to come, though."

Because she’s an innocent child, and it’s the right thing to do, Aunt Taiki reasoned. Then she ruffled my hair affectionately, as if to soothe the sting of the other woman’s bitter words. Besides, I like her.

"You like her? How? Aunt Melaina’s expression soured. She’s annoying as hell. And we’re not even really saving her, you know. Without an amulet, she’ll just return here again, anyway."

"Well, at least she’ll have a better chance this way. It may be weeks or moon cycles before we’re pulled back. The reaping will probably be over by then. If she stays here now, someone else will get their hands on her and kill her. You know they will. And if someone who’s not immune to the bloodlust takes her powers, then how will this realm fare?"

Hopefully it’ll be destroyed, Aunt Melaina muttered under her breath. Like it deserves.

Lain, Aunt Taiki said, her voice full of warning. Behave.

Why? Aunt Melaina shot back. Tell me, what has anyone here done to help either of us, except stand aside and gawk while we were captured by the fucking Graykeys, and then turn a blind eye while we were held prisoner, forced to marry, and tortured for the past sixteen years?

Well, we were each blessed with three children of our own, Aunt Taiki tried, always one to look at the bright side of things. "And we found each other. So it wasn’t all awful."

Right. Aunt Melaina sliced a dry glance her way. "Three children each, to which all three of yours ended up being evil and were consumed by the reaping just now."

Aunt Taiki didn’t have a reply for that. Her inner brightness seemed to dim and wither as stark grief filled her expression.

I didn’t think Aunt Melaina should’ve said that to her. Wanting to comfort her, I squeezed her hand. Aunt Taiki smiled sadly at me and squeezed back.

Where are we going? I asked to distract her and because none of what she and Aunt Melaina had been saying made any sense to me.

We’re going to take a little trip, Aunt Taiki explained as we followed Aunt Melaina into an empty stall where Questa and Quailen were waiting nervously. And then you and I will come back while Melaina, Questa, and Quailen stay behind. Okay?

But—

Shh. She smoothed down my hair. Trust me, baby. We’ll be safe there; I promise. Then she winked and let go of my hand.

I watched as she stepped toward Aunt Melaina.

Together, the two women stood side by side and lifted their arms toward the back wall of the stable stall. In unison, they began to chant in the magical tongue, and as they spoke foreign words that sounded dark and ominous, the outline of a round tunnel began to appear before us with crackling, electric white light rimming the entrance. They didn’t stop repeating the incantation until the entire portal was lit up.

Then, the five of us just stood there before it, staring in awe, until Quailen murmured an awestruck, Whoa.

You first, Aunt Melaina murmured, nudging Aunt Taiki forward. I’ll go last and make sure to close the breach behind us.

Aunt Taiki nodded in compliance before handing her own amulet over to Aunt Melaina. Then she glanced down at me as if to say goodbye, and she stepped toward the glowing portal.

Wait. Aunt Melaina grabbed her arm.

Aunt Taiki paused and turned back.

Be careful, Aunt Melaina ordered. I’ll see you in a minute.

Aunt Taiki smiled at her. I love you, you crazy heifer. She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to Aunt Melaina’s.

Aunt Melaina kissed her back before she pulled away, whispering, I love you, too. You’ll be a better mother to them than I ever was.

Aunt Taiki’s brow furrowed in confusion. What—? she started, but she didn’t get a chance to finish the question.

Aunt Melaina slipped the amulet back into the pocket of Aunt Taiki’s cloak and shoved her through the portal.

Mom! Questa gasped, rushing forward. What have you done?

Aunt Melaina merely shrugged. "What needed to be done. She’ll take care of you and your brother much better than I ever could. After I’m forced back here, she’ll be your new mother. Got it? And she’ll love you just as much as I do."

But—

Just go! Aunt Melaina shoved her through the doorway as well. You’re insane if you think I’m leaving this world without securing the safety of the people who mean the most to me.

Then she grabbed Quailen and pushed him into the glowing, crackling portal as well.

After all three were gone, she blew out a long breath and slowly turned to glare at me.

I shrank a step back.

I guess that leaves just you and me now, brat.

I gulped. You’re going to make me stay behind, aren’t you?

With an amused smirk, she sniffed. I wish. Then she took my arm roughly. But Taiki would murder me if I showed up without you in tow, so you better come with me, huh?

I nodded, feeling stupid and scared. Stalling, though I wasn’t sure why—I guess because I still had no idea where we were going—I peered up at her.

Did—was Qualmer not immune, then? I asked of her middle son that I hadn’t seen since the reaping had begun.

Her eyes narrowed before she smirked. Of course not. Who do you think killed your mother?

My skin went cold.

Qualmer had murdered Mama?

Aunt Melaina stepped toward me, looming darkly. Let’s get one thing straight, kid. Don’t cause problems for Taiki or either of my children, or I’ll end you, just like my son ended your dear, sweet mama. Got it?

I nodded, suddenly unsure if I should go with her or not. G-got it.

Great. She tightened her grip on my arm. Then let’s go.

Behind us, a voice roared, There you are!

I glanced back to find Qualmer peering over the door of the stall.

"Trying to leave without me, Mother? He struggled with the latch. That just earned you a death sentence right there. You too, cousin. I’m going to gut you both and then bathe in your blood before going through that portal and taking out Questa and Quailen and that fucking lover of yours."

He finally flung the door open and stalked into the stall with us.

Reacting on instinct, I pushed him back with a propulsion of air, just as I had with Uncle Palmer. And beside me, Melaina produced a dagger from her cloak before she threw it at him. When she caught him right in the eye, he screamed and fell to his knees, clutching the protruding handle.

My eyes widened as blood gushed down his cheek. Is he going to die?

I doubt it. Aunt Melaina’s punishing grip jerked me backward toward the portal. But let’s not wait around to find out, either.

With that, she swirled her hand, and the crackling edges began to darken and shrink, closing rapidly. Before the portal had completely compressed into nothing, she jumped into the dwindling gap and took me with her, leaving her enraged son behind.

In front of us, a black hole loomed. We were sucked into it with a rush of wind. A pulling sensation gripped my skin, and it felt as if I were falling.

Screaming, Aunt Melaina and I held on to each other for dear life as we left the Outer Realms behind and entered the unknown.

Chapter 1

Quilla

EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER

D o you remember the plan this time?

The goading question caused me to cinch my drawstring bag closed with an irritated snap, momentarily imagining the pull cord was tightening around my aunt’s throat instead of the sack. Inside the burlap, the freshly baked loaves I’d just stuffed into it tumbled about uneasily.

But do I remember? Really?

Casting Melaina a hard glance, I ground out, I told you, last time wasn’t my—

Fault? she finished for me, flashing that ever mocking and sardonic smirk of hers. "Yes, so you said, darling. Multiple times. And all I’m saying in return is that I don’t give a shit. Don’t fuck things up this time."

Flipping her mass of red hair behind her shoulder, she tipped her chin up like arrogant royalty. From the way she sat with a rigidly straight spine while smoothing the extravagant pools of her emerald green skirt over her lap, one might think she should be seated on a throne in a castle right now, ordering about a kingdom. But no, lucky me, I was the only subject she liked to boss around. And we were far and gone away from any kind of opulence that could even resemble a castle.

The back alley we occupied smelled pungently of decaying cabbage—wait, make that horse shit, since her mount was currently lifting its tail and defecating between us.

Melaina sent the horse a dry, unimpressed glance from atop the broken wagon that lay turned on its side where she’d perched herself, and she sniffed. Rude. Then she dismissed the animal with an arch of her eyebrows and turned her haughty expression back to me. "The goal is to sell all the bread, not give it away."

I know that, I muttered. And I only gave away one loaf. One. But she acted as if I’d dispersed our entire stock without any compensation whatsoever.

To a filthy street urchin, Melaina argued. Making all the other little ragamuffins loitering about and watching think it perfectly acceptable to take their own free loaves as well. Seriously, Quilla. How could you not notice when five more were stolen right out from under your nose?

With a growl, I unceremoniously tossed our bag full of wares I planned to sell in the market into the pushcart beside me and ground my teeth.

The problem wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed the robberies; I just hadn’t put all that much effort—or any effort at all—into retrieving the stolen merchandise. But the kids had been so thin and half-starved to death. Being out the price of six stupid loaves wouldn’t sink us. And it had probably fed them for a week.

We’re not running a charity, my aunt lectured. That profit is our livelihood. How the hell are we supposed to go anywhere after this with no funds?

We still turned a profit, I argued, but not too heatedly because our so-called profit hadn’t been impressive. At all. It might cover the cost of meals for us, but it wouldn’t come close to paying for any kind of room and board along the roads. We’d have to sleep out on the ground in the open air and around a campfire every night.

And neither of us enjoyed camping.

Melaina cried out her frustration and tossed her hands in the air. I swear, you are the most useless, incompetent—

I just don’t see why I have to vend the bread, I said.

Fisting my hands down at my sides, I lifted my brows at my aunt and waited for an answer to that. I hated working in the market. She knew this. I despised crowds and people and price haggling. Melaina was the one who adored attention and being among the masses, somehow sweet-talking her customers into paying double her asking prices. Working the market-side of things was her skill. Not mine.

"Because you stabbed the last gem dealer we sought in the thigh, dearest, and their kind talk amongst themselves. You and I both know you won’t be welcomed back into any of their shops with open arms again, not after that stupid stunt. So now I must be the one to talk to the jewelers, and you have to sell the bread."

Stupid stunt? Pfft.

I gave him fair warning. He really shouldn’t have been so surprised by the wound. "I thought I explained myself very clearly when I told him he’d meet the sharp end of my knife if he didn’t keep his hands to himself. Shrugging, I demanded, How am I in the wrong for keeping my word?"

It showed I was rather honest and trustworthy, if you wanted my opinion. I meant what I said, and I did what I promised. All good qualities.

Wasn’t like I killed the guy.

People don’t like to be stabbed, Melaina felt the need to explain. For any reason.

Then he should’ve kept his damn hands to himself, I grumbled. Like I told him.

Oh, mercy. With an exasperated breath, she rolled her eyes. "You’re such a prude. Tupping him wouldn’t have killed you, you know. In fact, getting laid every once in a while might help with some of those anger issues you have."

You think? I arched a censorious eyebrow. "Then why aren’t you the happiest woman alive?"

She narrowed her eyes and pointed. Don’t test me, you little bitch.

I sniffed. Anger issues, indeed. If I had anger issues, she was the reason I had them.

Since the moment she’d dropped that amulet into Taiki’s cloak and shoved her through the portal to the other dimension, Melaina had been a thorn in my side. We might’ve gotten to spend nearly half a year with Quailen, Questa, and Taiki before we were sucked back to the Outer Realms again, but from there on out, it had been just me and her.

Me and her disagreeing about every subject under the sun, constantly bickering, never seeing eye to eye, and sticking together anyway, living miserably ever after.

Even after Melaina had broken her bond to her husband eight years ago and we’d been free to search for two more amulets so we could return to the others once and for all, life with her had still been hell. Melaina nitpicked about every breath I took, never missing an opportunity to put me down, and I’d learned to rail right back at her, slapping her into her place with pleasure.

It had taken Taiki and Melaina sixteen years to procure four amulets last time. Melaina and I had been looking nonstop for half that time, and so far, we’d only found one.

Well, okay, that wasn’t technically true. Melaina wasn’t aware I’d gotten my hands on an amulet a few years back. She still thought we had two to go. But I knew her better than I knew anyone. If she learned we had one, she’d take it for herself and leave without me.

She might be the most vexing woman I’d ever met, and she made it clear every day that she loathed the very ground I walked upon, but she was the only family I had. If she abandoned me here alone, I’d have no one. So, no, I wasn’t about to let her know we were halfway to our goal already. Not until we had that second amulet in hand.

Melaina had gone back to see Taiki and the others for short trips throughout the years—since short trips were all we were allowed without amulets—and those few moon cycles without her had been a worse agony than all the suffering I put up with daily with her around. It was far better to have someone irritating and obnoxious in your life than no one at all.

Every visit held such a high risk that I’d never chanced going back with her. There were about twenty-five percent odds we’d die in transport, like get dropped into the middle of an ocean and drown to death, or land underground and suffocate, maybe even be plopped in front of something speeding right at us and get run over and crushed. Anything could happen. That was why we needed to get our hands on another amulet, so we could go and finally stay there.

And leave the Outer Realms forever.

Fine, I exploded. "You deal with the damn gem dealer, then, and let him grope you six ways ’til Sunday while you find out if he has or knows where we can find another amulet."

He was the best lead we’d gotten in over a year. Rumor had it that he owned one. So I could swallow my pride and admit she was right this time; she should be the one to barter with him.

Oh, honey, she purred, tapping her chin with a long-nailed finger and looking distinctly entertained. "I wouldn’t let him stop with a simple groping. I’d need far more than that. In fact, sex is a grand idea. Excellent suggestion, my dear. I should just give the poor darling a taste of Melaina, and he’ll be singing like a canary, eager to tell me all he knows or maybe even give me all he has. My God, why hadn’t I thought of that before? I should’ve been the one dealing with the gem dealers all along."

Whatever. I sighed and rolled my hand toward her encouragingly. Are you going to alter me now or what? I’d rather get this bread-selling shit done and over with now rather than later.

Her smile dropped into a pout. Why must you always spoil my moments when I’m having a brilliant idea?

"I thought you said it was my idea?" I countered, unable to keep from quarreling with her.

That’s it, she shot back, waving her hand in a circle and then flicking her fingers my way. You deserve this.

A familiar tingling sensation spread over me. Being glamoured always felt as if my skin was being covered with a swarm of crawling insects. I just wanted to bat them away and bathe immediately whenever she transformed my appearance.

But it was a necessary evil.

Because I was a Graykey.

After the family’s eleventh and last reaping eight years ago, the rest of the Outer Realms had finally had enough. I honestly couldn’t blame them. Whenever the Graykeys expended their bloodlust on each other, they tended to turn on outsiders next, ravaging their way across the land and killing indiscriminately to appease the urges flowing through them.

And though the eleventh reaping had occurred in the kingdom of Lowden, because that’s where my grandfather’s brother—Great-uncle Orrick—had ruled as king until he died and his son Percy took power, it was the kingdom of High Cliff who’d led a charge to invade the land and dethrone my father’s cousin. From there, the High Clifters had shown no mercy, cutting down anyone who bore the mark of the Graykey curse.

They wanted the reapings to be done and the curse to be over in a bad, bad way. After killing all the Graykeys who’d fought back against them, they went on a hunt for all the ones who’d fled and evaded the war, and they killed them too. They were determined to eliminate all of us, so we couldn’t reproduce another generation and rise up once more with our evil bloodlust.

And they were still out there today, searching for every last Graykey.

I completely applauded the idea of ending the curse and eradicating even the idea of having another reaping. I had nightmares about getting caught in another family kill reunion.

But flat-out liquidating all of us indiscriminately seemed like a bit much. I had personally ensured myself safe from the dark side of the curse by casting off my magic years ago and giving it away to another. I still missed my powers of persuasion sometimes, but whatever. It had been worth it.

I might’ve been immune in the tenth reaping when I’d been young, but I think that had changed as I’d grown and started to mature. I could feel myself craving more, wanting to hunt down my own family and take from them. If I hadn’t shed my magic when I had, I probably would’ve been the very Graykey who had started the eleventh reaping. But I had shed my powers just in time, so it’d been my father’s cousin Percy who’d started the eleventh.

I hadn’t stopped my safety measures there, either. After giving away my magic, I’d gone a step further. I’d found a mage who could seal my womb closed, preventing me from having children and passing my curse on to another generation. There was no way I could fall victim to the bloodlust now or even be a carrier of it.

But did anyone care about that?

No.

They still sought me too. I’d evaded half a dozen High Cliff henchmen in the past six years. And all of them would’ve captured me or slaughtered me on sight, not even pausing to ask if I’d taken care of the risks from the curse by myself or even if I was willing to do so to avoid getting sucked into the bloodlust.

And so, I lived in hiding, always on the move, never staying in one place too long, and making sure I got close to no one. I had Melaina who assisted me, by keeping my face changed so no one ever really knew what I looked like, and that was it. But that was fine. We had to travel a lot in search of the amulets; there wouldn’t have been time for other friendships, anyway.

The creeping, crawling sensation finally abated, and I opened my eyes—not sure when I’d squeezed them closed, to begin with—and I glanced down to see what Melaina had turned me into with her magical abilities this time.

I saw my hands first—aged and wrinkled with liver spots. Scraggly blue veins crept up my arms over medium-toned skin, and grayed hairs covered my forearms.

When I checked my waistline, the pudgy, soft middle looked so believable I could almost feel the added weight bearing down on my hips. With trousers and a stained tunic covering the form, plus no breasts, I could tell she’d turned me into a man again. She did that a lot. It amused her to make me male, I think. She must think I abhorred the idea of being a different gender, so I never let on that I secretly felt safer that way.

Fewer people paid attention to and bothered you when you weren’t a soft-skinned female with pale, flowing locks and big, soulful brown eyes. Being a comely maiden had never benefited me before, so it was a relief to escape that shell for a while and look like, well, basically like anything else.

Except I already knew Melaina had made me as unattractive as possible—her form of punishment, I guess. Spotting a puddle nearby, I caught a glimpse of my face and found that I now had a jutting masculine brow, thick bushy eyebrows, the biggest, most crooked nose I’d ever seen, and plenty of raised moles with sagging jowls.

Yep. I was hideous.

But hopefully not so repulsive that no one would buy bread at the market from me. We really did need to turn a bigger profit today. Constant traveling wasn’t cheap. And a night or two in an actual inn would be heavenly.

Make sure to hobble like you have a bum leg or something, Melaina instructed, looking as if she enjoyed my glamour far too much. Or else no one will believe the disguise.

Limp? I sent her a sharp frown. Limiting my ability to move freely was dangerous. If some threat showed up, I’d need to be able to run. And escape.

But my aunt obviously hadn’t considered that possibility, or maybe she just didn’t care. That sounded more likely.

What? She smirked cruelly. Being elderly will help you garner sympathy and sales.

Sympathy is extinct. No one cared about anyone else’s plight anymore. Not from what I’d seen anyway. Why did she think I had become so anti-social? So anti-people? Because they were all rotten, straight to the core; that’s why.

"Then scare them into buying from you. Tell them all the other bread vendors have bugs in their loaves. I don’t give a fuck. Just make us some damn money."

I nodded and started to turn away, only to pause when I caught sight of the

Reviews for Mark of Love

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